Some good messages by Bill MacDonald

here

That’s a Good Question – William MacDonald

Introduction

Nothing happens in life by chance. Every­thing is planned or permitted.

It was no chance that this booklet came into your hands.

It contains truths which, if accepted, could change the whole direction of your life. Not only that—it tells you how you can enjoy forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and the assurance of a home in heaven after this life is over.

The following pages answer questions that you may have been thinking. Certainly it answers questions that everyone should be asking.

Take a few minutes to read it carefully.

The last answer is the crucial one. If you take the action that is described, you will be forever grateful.

Guarantee

The Bible carries a guarantee with it. You’ll find it in John 7:17. It’s a promise from God that anyone who sincerely wants to know the truth will find it.

Put it to the test. Ask God to reveal Him­self to you. Then as you read this booklet, pay particular attention to the Bible verses that are quoted.

The next few minutes could be the most important ones in your life. If you respond to God’s message as found in His Word, you will be the possessor of eternal life.

What is the most important thing in life?

It’s important to have health, but it’s not of maximum importance, because some time in the normal course of events we will all have to die.

It’s important to have money and posses­sions, but they are not enough. Some day we will have to leave them all behind.

It’s important to have pleasure, but even that doesn’t last forever.

In view of the shortness of time and the length of eternity, the most important thing is to know that our eternal destiny is safely assured. It is to know that our afterlife will be spelled H-E-A-V-E-N and not H-E-L-L.

Jesus asked this crucial question: “What {pb2}will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul” (Mark 8:36,37).

Why is there any problem? Why is there any question about it?

The problem is sin. Sin has separated man from God, has made him unfit for heaven, and has richly qualified him for hell.

The Bible says, ‘Tour iniquities have sep­arated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you” (Isaiah 59:2).

What is sin?

Sin is anything short of God’s perfection. That is what God means when He says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

It is doing what we know we should not do. “All unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17).

It is failing to do what we know we should do. “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

It is violating the conscience. ‘Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23).

It is self-will or lawlessness. It’s saying to {pb3}God, “Not Your will but mine be done.”

Not only are our thoughts, words, and deeds sinful, but our inner lives are sinful. In fact, what we are is a lot worse than anything we have ever done.

You make me feel guilty. Don’t you want me to have a good self image?

God wants you to feel guilty so you will be moved to take action. Only those who admit they are sick will go to a doctor for healing. Didn’t the Lord Jesus say, “Those who are well do not need a physician but those who are sick” (Luke 5:31)? Only those who acknowl­edge that they are sinners will go to Christ for salvation. What’s the use of having a good self image when you are sliding over the edge of a precipice?

If good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell, then what do I have to worry about?

The premise is wrong and therefore the conclusion is wrong.

The premise is wrong. It is not true that good people go to heaven. According to God’s {pb4}standard, there are no good people. “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20).

The only kind of people who go to heaven are sinners saved by grace.

Because the premise is wrong, the conclu­sion is wrong. If you are not saved by grace, you have plenty to worry about.

Do you mean to say I’m as bad as a lot of other people I know?

From your own standpoint, or from the standpoint of your relatives and friends, you may not be as bad as others. But those are not the standards that count. The Bible says that those who measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves among themselves are not wise (see 2 Corinthians 10:12). It is God’s standpoint that counts. In God’s sight we are guilty sinners.

If I keep the Ten Commandments and do the best I can, isn’t that enough?

First of all, you should realize what the Ten Commandments require: {pb5}

1. No other gods. The true God must have first place. This eliminates the myth­ical gods of the heathen but also such gods as money, sex, power, self. None of these can be on the throne of the life.

2. No idol. We usually think of idols as gra­ven images, but this commandment also forbids worshiping such things as a car, house, wife, or children.

3. Don’t take the Name of the Lord in vain. This forbids testifying falsely when under oath but also rules out profanity and cursing.

4. Remember the Sabbath Day. We should set one day in seven apart for the worship and service of God.

5. Honor your father and mother. Don’t disobey them, treat them dis­respectfully, or steal from them. It also involves caring for them and showing gratitude to them.

6. Don’t kill. Even if you have never actu­ally killed someone, remember that we are all guilty of the murder of the Son of God. It was our sins that caused His death. Jesus taught that hatred and anger are murder in embryo (Matthew 5:21,22; 1 John 3:15). Certainly abortion is a current form of murder.

7. Don’t commit adultery. This forbids all sex outside of marriage. But Jesus also {pb6}taught that even the lustful look is adul­terous (Matthew 5:28).

8. Don’t steal. Don’t take your neighbor’s property but also don’t rob God of ser­vice, worship, obedience, and glory.

9. Don’t lie. Don’t file false income tax returns. Don’t lie about your age. Don’t tell white lies or fibs. Don’t exaggerate or deceive.

10. Don’t covet. Coveting takes place in the mind, so this means “Have a pure thought life.” How is your thought life?

Jesus summarized the commandments by saying that we should love God with all our being and love our neighbor as our self.

No one, apart from the Lord Jesus, has ever kept them, or can keep them.

If we can’t keep the Ten Command­ments, why were they given?

They were given to convict us of the fact that we are sinners. “By the law is the knowl­edge of sin” (Romans 3:20). It takes a straight line to reveal a crooked one. The command­ments are God’s straight line. We stand next to them and realize how crooked we are.

But they were never intended as a step {pb7}ladder to heaven. A mirror tells us our face needs washing, but the mirror doesn’t clean it. A thermometer tells us we have a fever, but swallowing a thermometer doesn’t cure a fever.

Isn’t there any way I can atone or make up for my own sins?

There is no way.

Do you mean to say that I have been wrong in doing penance for my sins?

The word “penance” is not found in the Bible, neither is the idea found there.

The Bible tells us that all our righteous­nesses (that is, all the best we have to offer) are no better than filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6).

It is not penance that God wants, nor mere penitence, that is, sorrow for sin, nor remorse, but repentance.

What do you mean by repentance?

Repentance is a change of mind about sin, self, God, and Christ, which changes the attitude, {pb8}which changes the actions. It involves not just the mind but the conscience. It is the sinner’s acknowledgment of his ungodliness, lostness, helplessness, and hopelessness, and his need of grace. It is an about face. It is tak­ing sides with God against one’s self.

It involves penitence, that is, sorrow for sin, but it is more than this. You can be sorry for sin and yet not turn away from it.

Isn’t there some way I can earn or merit my salvation? That would please me very much.

That is why salvation by works is such a popular teaching. It is popular because it makes men think that they can be their own savior. It gives a place of honor to man’s sinful nature.

But there is no way you can earn or deserve salvation. God says that we are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8,9).

You keep saying that salvation is by grace. What do you mean by that?

Grace is God showing favor to those who don’t deserve it, but who, in fact, deserve the {pb9}very opposite.

It is closely linked with the idea of a gift. You do not earn a gift. That would be wages. You receive a gift and say “thank you.”

Grace and works cannot be mixed. It has to be one or the other.

Grace must be distinguished from justice. In justice, you get what you deserve. In grace you get favor that you don’t deserve.

Then do I understand that you don’t believe in good works?

As we have already noted, God’s word teaches that we are not saved by good works, but once we are saved, we should be char­acterized by good works. Good works are not the cause, they are the effect; not the root but the fruit; not the origin but the result.

The first good work that anyone can do is to believe on Christ (John 6:29). From then on anything he does for the glory of God and for the good of others is a good work.

I was baptized when I was a baby. Isn’t that enough?

Baptism saves no one, neither babies nor adults. {pb10}

There is not a single verse in the New Testament to support the baptism of babies. The only people who were baptized were those who had trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Acts 2:41).

The teaching that baptism saves babies makes God an unjust Judge, condemning those who never had the chance to be bap­tized.

It makes water the Savior instead of Jesus.

If infants could be saved by a few drops of water, then why did the Lord Jesus have to die?

It simply doesn’t work. Many who were baptized as infants have turned out to be adulterers, murderers, and other types of criminals.

Look! Put it to me simply. What do I need in order to be saved?

You need to be born again. Jesus said it tersely, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’“ (John 3:7). Unless a per­son is born again, he will never see or enter the kingdom of God. {pb11}

What do you mean by being born again?

The new birth is a marvelous, miraculous, supernatural work of God that takes place when a person repents of his sins and receives Jesus Christ by faith as Lord and Savior. Your first birth was physical; the new birth is spiritual.

You say that the only way to be saved is through faith in Christ. Isn’t it narrow minded to think that there is only one way?

Then the Bible is narrow minded.

Jesus said that no one could come to God, the Father, except through Him (John 14:6).

Peter said that no one could be saved in any other way than through Christ (Acts 4:12).

And Paul wrote that there is no other foundation except Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Faith in Christ is the only way of salva­tion.

What does it mean to have faith or to believe?

It means to accept the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your only hope for heaven. You {pb12}renounce any idea of saving yourself or even having part in your own salvation and you place your full confidence in Him.

Various synonyms for believing are used in the Bible such as:

Receive. Enter the door. Open a door. Eat. Drink. Come or come home—like the prodigal son. Accept a gift. Look. Love. Confess. Hear. Touch—the hem of His garment. Accept an invitation: to a wedding or to a great feast. Follow.

Isn’t faith a leap in the dark?

No. Actually faith demands the surest evi­dence, and finds it in the word of God. There is nothing as certain as God’s word. His word is truth (John 17:17). To trust Him is the most sane, logical, reasonable thing a person can do. What is more reasonable than that the creature should trust his Creator? He cannot lie, deceive, or be deceived.

Isn’t the gospel too easy? too cheap?

It is easy to be saved—so easy that it is available to all.

It is cheap for the sinner—without money {pb13}and without price (Isaiah 55:1).

However, it wasn’t cheap for the Savior. He had to leave Heaven’s glory, come down to this jungle of sin, suffer, shed His precious blood, die a horrible death in order to purchase our pardon (1 Peter 2:24).

How can I tell if I have believed in the right way, if I have enough faith, or if I have the right kind of faith?

Faith is not the savior. Jesus is. True faith lays hold of Him.

It’s not intellectual assent to facts but trust in a Person.

It’s not the amount of faith but the Object of faith that matters.

You say that you don’t have to do anything to be saved, that all you have to do is believe. Isn’t that a contradiction?

It sounds like a contradiction but here is what is meant.

There is nothing meritorious that you have to do (or can do). You are not saved by good works, church membership, faithfulness in obeying the sacraments, giving to the poor, etc (Titus 3:5). {pb14}

Believing on Christ is not a meritorious work. You don’t earn heaven by doing it, nor can you boast because you did it.

How can I know that I’ll be able to hold out after I’m saved?

You will be no more able to keep yourself saved than you were to save yourself in the first place.

Christ not only saves but also keeps. When He begins a good work in you, He will finish it (Philippians 1:6; Jude 24).

If all you have to do Is believe, then can’t you go out and live any way you want?

When you are saved, God changes your wants. You no longer want to sin. You lose your fierce appetite for sin. You don’t want to go on in that which caused the death of your Savior. You have a love of holiness. The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). {pb15}

If I sin after I’m saved, don’t I lose my salvation?

Jesus said that no sheep of His will ever perish (John 10:27-29).

All who are justified will one day be glo­rified (Romans 8:30b).

Salvation is a birth (John 3:3,5). A birth is final and unchangeable.

Salvation means eternal life (John 3:16,36). Eternal is forever.

Nothing can separate the believer from the love of God (Romans 8:38,39).

But I know a man who was saved, then he sinned and was lost. What do you have to say to that?

If he was genuinely saved, he couldn’t be lost. If, however, he was only a false professor, then he could have experienced a sort of moral reformation. He may have turned over a new leaf, and then lapsed back into his old, sinful ways.

We must not base our doctrine on expe­rience but only on the inspired word of God. The test must always be, “What does the Bible say?” {pb16}

You say that when a person is saved, he receives forgiveness of sins. But what about sins committed after he is saved?

When a person is saved, he receives for­giveness for all his sins as far as the penalty is concerned. When Jesus died, He died for all our sins, past, present, and future. At the time He died, they were all future. He died for them all. Now God, the Judge, cannot find any sins on the believer for which to punish him with eternal death because Jesus bore the pun­ishment on the cross of Calvary. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Sins committed after salvation have sev­eral results:

• They break fellowship with God. This fel­lowship remains broken until the sin is confessed and forsaken. However, although fellowship is broken, rela­tionship is not. Fellowship is a tender thread; relationship is an unbreakable chain.

• They break fellowship with our fellow believers.

• They hinder our prayers from being answered.

• They make service for Christ unfruitful, if not impossible. They seal our lips. {pb17}

• They bring dishonor and reproach on the Name of the Lord.

• They rob us of joy.

• They cast doubt on the reality of our con­version. J. I. Packer said, “The only proof of past conversion is present convert-edness.”

• They hinder spiritual growth.

• They invite God’s discipline.

The unbeliever receives judicial forgive­ness of sins by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a once-for-all forgiveness.

The believer receives parental forgiveness by confession. It is something we need as long as we are in the body.

What happens if, after I’m saved, I die with unconfessed sins?

As explained above, the penalty of those sins has already been paid. God will not demand payment twice. So your eternal sal­vation is unaffected.

The fellowship that was broken by sins will be restored when you pass into the presence of the Lord. Unconfessed sins may result in a loss of reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ. {pb18}

You say that Christ died for all. Why then aren’t all saved?

The death of Christ was sufficient for all the sins of all people of all times. But it is only effective when a person receives Christ by faith.

God doesn’t save people against their will. He isn’t going to populate heaven with people who don’t want to be there.

If I trust Christ, will I have a great emotional experience?

Some do and some don’t. To some, espe­cially those saved from lives of deep sin, there is often a dramatic experience of deliverance. To others it may be the quiet acceptance of a divine offer. There is no question that salva­tion involves the emotions, but sometimes the emotional impact may not come until later, and even then, over a period of time.

How will I know it when I am saved?

First and foremost through the word of God. The Bible was written so that those who believe on the Name of the Son of God may know that they are saved (1 John 5:13). {pb19}

But there are also these evidences:

• A desire to obey the Lord.

• A love for Christians.

• A love of holiness.

• A hatred of sin.

• A love for the word of God.

• A love of prayer.

• A consciousness of God’s guidance .

• A steadfast continuance in the faith.

• The witness of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• A desire to share the good news with oth­ers.

Don’t I have to clean up my act before I come to Jesus?

That is not the gospel. The more you try, the worse you will get.

What you need is not reformation but regeneration.

The dying thief couldn’t clean up his act and neither can you.

Jesus told about a man who tried to clean up his act. His house was cleaned and empty but he didn’t let the Savior in. His latter end was worse than his first (Matthew 12:43-45). {pb20}

Let not conscience make you linger,

Nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness He requires

Is to feel your need of Him.

Come, you weary, heavy-laden,

Lost and ruined by the fall;

If you tarry till you’re better,

You will never come at all.

Isn’t it presumption for a person to say that he is saved?

If his salvation depended in any way on his own righteousness, then it would be pre­sumption. But when a true believer says he is saved, he is not boasting. He is saying in effect, “I did all the sinning and Christ did all the saving.” He attributes his salvation to the grace of God and not to himself.

The greatest presumption is to call God a liar by not believing the testimony that He has given concerning His Son (1 John 5:10).

If you Christians are right, why are there so few of you?

The question assumes that the majority is usually or always right. This is not true. {pb21}

In the time of the flood, only eight people were right; the rest all perished.

At Calvary, the crowd was wrong; only a handful of fearful disciples were right.

Jesus said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few that find it” (Matthew 7:13,14).

If God is all-powerful, why does He allow wars, tragedies, suffering, and sorrow?

All these things are the result of sin having entered the world. God is not the originator of any evil. All sickness, suffering, sorrow, and death come from the devil. God permits it, but then overrules it for His glory, for the good of His people, and for the outworking of His purposes.

If God is a God of love, how could He send people to hell?

First of all, God did not make hell for peo­ple. He made it for the devil and His angels. God does not want any human being to go to {pb22}hell. In order to prevent it, He sent His Son to suffer, bleed and die on Calvary to provide a way of escape. If people refuse God’s way of salvation, what alternative is there? In a real sense, the only people who go to hell are those who choose to—those who deliberately reject the free gift of everlasting life in heaven.

What bothers me is that there are so many hypocrites in the church.

It is important to remember that there is a difference between real Christians and nominal Christians, between those who only say they are Christians and those who show by their lives that they are true believers. There are hypocrites in politics but that doesn’t stop people from voting. There are hypocrites in athletics but people still swarm to watch them. There are hypocrites in the entertainment world but that doesn’t turn people off. There is counterfeit money but that doesn’t cause anyone to refuse to have money. Men only counterfeit what is real and val­uable. We do not try to excuse hypocrisy, but don’t use it as an excuse for not being saved. God does not ask you to believe in Christians; He asks you to believe in Jesus. When you {pb23}become a Christian, be sure that you show the world what a genuine Christian should be.

I hesitate because I believe that all the church wants is your money.

Sometimes this is used as an excuse for not becoming a Christian. It is not a valid one. While it is true that certain churches, radio, and TV programs have become money-making rackets, that is not an accurate representation of the true Christian faith. God doesn’t want your money; He wants your full, confiding trust.

If I get saved, do I have to be baptized?

If you are truly converted, you should want to be baptized. Although it is not necessary for salvation, it is necessary for obedience. Because Jesus commanded it, it is very important (Matthew 28:19). It is one of the first ways you can make a confession of your faith to the world. If a person stubbornly refuses to be baptized, this refusal casts doubt on the reality of his conversion experience. Professing Christians who die unbaptized will be unbaptized for all eternity. {pb24}

If I get saved, do I have to turn my back on the faith I was brought up in?

If that faith denies the deity of Christ, or

if it teaches salvation by works, or

if it practices idolatry, or

if it denies that the Bible is the word of God,

yes, you will have to leave it. You will want to leave it, even if it causes conflict in your family.

Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36). Conversion often alienates relatives against the new believer.

However, that should not discourage you. Experience proves that when a new convert lives a consistent life before his family, they are eventually led to the Lord or at least become less hostile and more accepting.

The believer’s responsibility is to obey the Lord and leave the consequences to Him. He always rewards obedience. {pb25}

I feel that I should trust Christ, and yet I am afraid to do it. Can you tell me what is the trouble?

It could be one of several things.

It could be pride.

It could be that you are ashamed of Jesus.

It could be that you want your sins rather than Christ, that you want pleasure more than holiness.

It could be your love for some person who is an unbeliever.

It could be family pressure—fear of the reaction of your parents.

I’m afraid I will have to give up too much if I become a Christian. The cost is too high.

Have you ever considered the cost of not becoming a Christian?

I think I’ll put it off until later in life. Isn’t that OK?

You have forgotten two things. One is the uncertainty of life. The other is the possibility of the any-moment coming of the Lord. {pb26}

I admit that I could be killed suddenly in an accident, but what’s that about the Lord’s coming?

Jesus promised His followers that He would come again. No one knows the time; it could be today. There are many indications that it might be soon. At that time true believers will be caught away to heaven. Unbelievers who have heard the gospel and rejected it will have no more chance to be saved. They will pass into a time of terrible tribulation on earth and even­tually into hell itself.

Are you talking about the end of the world?

No, there are several things that will hap­pen before the end of the world. First, as already mentioned, Jesus will come and take the church home to heaven. Then after a period of intense trouble on earth He will return to set up His kingdom. That kingdom will last for 1000 years. At the end of the time, the world as we now know it will come to an end. It will be dissolved by fire. That will usher in the eternal state in which there will be new atmospheric and stellar heavens and a new earth. {pb27}

Ok, then, tell me once more, as simply as you can, how I can be saved and sure of it.

First, you must acknowledge before God that you are a guilty, lost sinner and that you deserve the punishment of eternal death.

Also you must abandon any idea of saving yourself or even contributing to your salvation by good character or good works of any kind.

Next you must believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died as a Substitute for you, paying the penalty that your sins deserved.

Finally, by a definite act of faith, you must receive Him as your exclusive Lord and Sav­ior, your only hope for heaven.

When you do this in utter sincerity, you can know on the authority of God’s word that you are saved for time and for eternity.

Here is God’s promise: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not per­ish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Will you believe? Right now? {pb28}

At a fashionable gathering of prom­inent people, a young lady played and sang with such finesse and beauty that the audience rocked the hall with applause.

Afterwards a Christian named Caesar Malan thanked her for her singing. But then in extended con­versation, he gracefully made a transi­tion to her spiritual condition. She was indignant that he would even suggest that she was a sinner and that she needed to be saved. She did not respond well to the promise that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, could cleanse her from all sin. After a curt rebuke, she walked away from him.

That night she could not sleep. Malan’s words echoed in her mind. At 2 A.M. she jumped out of bed, took a pencil and paper, and with tears streaming down her face, Charlotte Elliott wrote the well-known hymn, Just As I Am. It tells the story of how she came to Christ. {pb29}

Just as I Am

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Just as I am, and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Just as I am, tho’ tossed about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need in Thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

Because Thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Just as I am, Thy love unknown

Hath broken ev’ry barrier down;

Now to be Thine, yea Thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

—Charlotte Elliott

The Wonder of it All – William MacDonald

I never want to lose the sense of wonder
That He who held the highest place above
Should come to earth in lowly condescension
To show this fallen world that God is love.
I never want to lose the sense of marvel
That He whom angels serve in glory bright
Should stoop to take the bondslaves occupation
And serve His creatures here from morn till night.
I never want to cease from adoration
When I recall that day at Calvary
When God the Son the mighty Maker suffered
To rescue me from sin’s dread penalty.
I never want to lose the expectation
That my dear Lord is coming back for me
That I will see Him radiant in His beauty
Be with and like Him for eternity.

A Visit to Bill MacDonald’s Apartment – Jim McCarthy

A commended worker for sixty years, a teacher, preacher, mentor, and author of eighty-four books, including the Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald was a man who said and wrote much. Yet, for the those who knew him well, it was his life that left the greatest impression.

Speaking of the Lord Jesus, the Bible says, “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6). Bill wrote in his commentary, “Jesus’ life, as set forth in the Gospels, is our pattern and guide. It is not a life which we can live in our own strength or energy, but is only possible in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to turn our lives over to Him unreservedly, and allow Him to live His life in and through us.”

In 1962, Bill wrote True Discipleship, a summary of what it means to walk in the same manner as Christ walked. In the foreword, he said:

This booklet is an attempt to set forth some principles of New Testament discipleship. Some of us have seen these principles in the Word for years, but somehow concluded that they were too extreme and impractical for the complicated age in which we live. And so we surrendered to the chill of our spiritual environment.

Then we met a group of young believers who set out to demonstrate that the Savior’s terms of discipleship are not only highly practical but that they are the only terms which will ever result in the evangelization of the world. We acknowledge our indebtedness to these young people for providing living examples of many of the truths set forth here.

To the extent that these truths are still beyond our own personal experience, we set them forth as the aspirations of our heart.

Bill listed seven principles of Christian discipleship.

1. A supreme love for Jesus Christ.

2. A denial of self.

3. A deliberate choosing of the cross.

4. A life spent in following Christ.

5. A fervent love for all who belong to Christ.

6. An unswerving continuance in His Word.

7. A forsaking of all to follow Him.

Challenged by these seemly impossible standards, Bill wrote:

The writer realizes that in the act of setting them forth, he has condemned himself as an unprofitable servant. But shall the truth of God be forever suppressed because of the failure of God’s people? Is it not true that the message is always greater than the messenger?

The message is indeed greater, but in this case, the messenger also was noteworthy.

Perhaps Bill’s life can best be recalled by a final visit to the apartment where he lived for the past thirty-four years. The building is unremarkable, unless one remembers that the occupant of apartment number seven had a Master degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and was a former investment analyst for the First Bank of Boston. One would have expected such a man to live in a large home in a gated community, rather than in a one bedroom apartment on a busy street. The stainless steel doorbell/intercom panel guarding the front lobby door is new. Had we visited two or three years earlier, however, we would have noticed on the old panel that the button for Bill’s apartment had been replaced. His many visitors had worn it out prematurely.

Entering the lobby and turning to the staircase on your visit to Bill MacDonald’s apartment, you would pass a row of mailboxes. Though conveniently placed, Bill never received his mail there. He preferred to have it delivered to Fairhaven Bible Chapel a few blocks away. He would stop by Fairhaven each day, greet the secretaries, and pick up his mail. He had helped to start the Discipleship Intern Training Program there and taught in it for twenty-one years, training scores of men to serve Christ.

As you topped the first flight of stairs, Bill would be waiting at his apartment door with a smile and a hearty handshake, or if he knew you well, a hug. Unlike many who become grumpy and bitter as they grow old, Bill grew more warm-hearted and sympathetic as he aged. More like Christ.

Entering his one-bedroom apartment, you would pass a small windowless kitchen on the left. While others over the past thirty-five years had invested thousands of dollars remodeling their kitchens, Bill’s had remained the same-a stove, a sink, a refrigerator, and a small counter, just enough room for one person to work. “It’s fine,” he would say. He enjoyed cooking for himself and his guests, serving full meals with dessert. If there is a reward in heaven for the bachelor who showed the most hospitality, Bill will easily win it.

Beyond the kitchen you would see a small table pushed against the wall, a chair on either end, two chairs down the long side. A woodworking class had made it for him. Above it hung a large calendar and a glass Scottish thistle. Though born in Massachusetts, Bill’s heart was in Scotland, his parent’s birthplace. He had spent a memorable year there on the Isle of Lewis as a youth.

On the kitchen table, you would see a small stack of cards. If you examined them, you would find a Bible text on one side and its reference on the other. After serving dinner, Bill enjoyed inviting his guests to select a card, read the text, and try to identify the book, chapter, and verse from memory. Of course, he knew them all.

Passing into his living room, you would see that it was divided into two spaces, each about seven feet long and ten feet wide. The one nearest to the kitchen was furnished with three chairs, two bookcases, and a small electronic keyboard. Bill would serve you tea and you could talk about the things of the Lord. When alone at night, he liked to spend a few minutes playing hymns unto God. He played by ear and knew the lyrics to hundreds of songs. In later years, a tremor in his hand put an end to it.

On the two bookcases, you could check out his personal library. He limited it to those few shelves. This meant that as new books came in others went out, usually to be passed on to an eager young Christian. He liked to joke about earlier days when he owned a smartly bound edition of the complete works of John Nelson Darby. They made him feel spiritual and intelligent, he liked to tell others, until a young disciple asked him if had read them. He admitted that he had not. Darby was good, but difficult to follow. He sold them soon after, putting the money into the work of the Lord.

You would notice that the second half of the room was configured in a square. The room’s only window was on the back wall. It looked out to a parking lot. Nothing much of interest there. On the other side of the building was the town’s fire department. Bill said the sirens didn’t bother him. He had learned the art of not letting small things get under his skin. He had something more important to do.

Three desks completed the square, two long ones lining either wall and a shorter one across the front of the workspace, leaving enough room to pass. Bill spent most of his waking hours there when at home. He used the desk on the right (a door blank supported by two file cabinets) for Bible study. On a shelf for reference books above it, you could count seven or eight translations of the Bible. Bill’s favorite translation was the King James Version, but for many years he taught from the New American Standard Bible. One year he exclusively used the New International Version to familiarize himself with it. In his latter years, he settled on the New King James Version. He could explain the strengths and weaknesses of each translation and would warn young disciples to stay out of the controversies over which one was best. Throughout his life, Bill strove to maintain balance. When someone took issue with his interpretation of Scripture, he would listen politely and then quote Harry Ironside, saying, “Well, dear brother, when we get to heaven, one of us is going to be wrong, and perhaps it will be me.”

Bill knew little Hebrew or Greek. He had set a goal as a young man to master the English Bible and that kept him busy enough. He knew it as well as any scholar. He could quote Scripture at length, a God-given ability. After completing a study of a passage, he usually had it memorized without drills or review.

On the same desk where he studied, Bill kept his phone and fax machine. You wouldn’t be there long before a call would interrupt your visit. They came in from around the world. Usually the caller was an elder, asking advice on a difficult problem in his assembly.

You would find a second long desk of the same design on the left with a computer monitor and printer on it. Bill did his writing there. By the age of eighty, he had completed eighty books. “One for every year of my life,” he would say with a smile, “though I didn’t start when I was one.” He finished his eighty-forth book a few weeks before going to be with Christ and just short of his ninety-first birthday. It was a new commentary on the book of Proverbs.

Bill was an early adapter. He had been given his first computer in 1982 at the age of sixty-five. He never really understood how the thing worked. The difference between a computer file and computer folder, for example, baffled him. He didn’t let it stop him. He knew this new technology could advance his work for the Lord, and so decided to use it. With help from others and an array of Post-It notes and instructions on cards, he got the job done.

On the third desk, an aluminum folding table, you would find Bill’s typewriter and a stack of correspondence. In a typical week, Bill would answer ten to twenty letters. He found it taxing, especially in his latter years, but he couldn’t rest until every letter was answered and every gift acknowledged.

Bill filled the hours in his apartment with study and writing. “Most of my Christian life has been hard work,” he writes in an unpublished memoir, “steady plodding, routine duties and lonely hours. There have been times when I have wondered if anything was being accomplished. If I ever thought of turning in my commission, the Lord would drop some little handful of encouragement that would nerve me to go on a little longer.” Nothing encouraged him more than receiving in the mail a copy of his commentary freshly translated into a foreign language. A fund has been set up with CMML to continue the work.

Leaving the living room and entering Bill’s bedroom. The furniture is cheap and dated-a bed, two small bookcases holding an assortment of his books and tracts to give to people, a dresser, a small television, and a bedside stand with a book on it. He read himself to sleep most of his life. In the last two or three years his eyes wouldn’t allow it. “The tent is coming down,” he would say.

Bill liked to watch the news. He never went to a movie theater or to a theatrical play, mostly out of deference to his mother, he would explain, who saw no good in them. He occasionally watched a movie with a Christian theme on DVD. His favorite was Chariots of Fire, the story of a Christian athlete, a Scotsman, as one might expect.

In the bedroom closet, you wouldn’t find much. Bill was always well groomed, but he spent little on clothes. There you would find his suitcase. He had used the same one for over fifty years. It looked something like an oversized bowling bag. It was all he needed. He traveled light, but he traveled far, circling the globe teaching the Bible.

Of course, if you were to visit apartment number seven now, you wouldn’t find Bill there. On Christmas Day, 2007, Bill went home to be with Jesus. He left little of earthly value. The former investment analyst, you see, had no stock portfolio, no property, no investments of any kind on this earth. Everything he received beyond what was necessary for his basic needs, he gave away. We still have the books he wrote. We can thank God for that. We still have precious memories of the example he left us. But Bill is no longer with us, and we already miss him terribly. He reminded us so of Jesus.

Believers Bible Commentary – William MacDonald

here

William MacDonald Video – 1998 – “The Local Church”

here

To What Should We Be Loyal – William MacDonald

What do you think of the person who says, “My parents were members of this denomination. I was born in it. And I’ll die in it.”"Oh,” you say, “I think he’s wrong to talk like that:” “Yes, but why is he wrong?”

“I suppose because he assumes his denomination is right and will always be right.”

“Well, then, to what denomination or group should he be loyal?”

“I guess he shouldn’t be loyal to any denomination, because no denomination is perfect.”

“One final question. If he shouldn’t be loyal to any denomination or group of Christians, to what should he be loyal?”

“He ought to be loyal to the Lord and to the principles of His Word.”

Yes, of course! That is the only correct answer. It is a mistake to develop an undying loyalty to any Christian fellowship, no matter how scriptural it may be at the time.

Even suppose that you reject the whole idea of denominations. Suppose you meet with Christians who refuse any sectarian name. Suppose, for instance, that they speak of themselves by the innocuous name of “the assemblies.” They seek to adhere to the teaching of the Word. Shouldn’t you throw in your lot with them permanently and be loyal to them alone?

If you do, you will find yourself in a difficult position.

You are committed to a group that will almost inevitably change over the years. This has been the history of almost every Christian fellowship. Liberal tendencies creep in. Zeal and freshness give way to formalism. A denominational hierarchy develops. Soon you can write Ichabod over the whole thing-the glory has departed.

Then again, if you are loyal to a group of assemblies, the question always arises, “With which particular ones do you agree?” There are wide differences among any group of local churches, just as there are wide differences among individuals. Some are open, some are exclusive. Some are conservative, some are liberal. Some have a pastor who presides over the congregation, others repudiate a one-man ministry. No two assemblies are exactly alike.

So there is a real problem. To which assemblies are we to be loyal? Are we to blindly subscribe to all the assemblies that might be listed in a semi-official address book? It seems obvious that we cannot consistently do this. We must judge each individual assembly by the Word of God, as far as our own personal affiliation is concerned.

Here is another problem. If my loyalty is to a particular group of local churches, what is to be my attitude toward other Christian groups that might in some ways be closer to the New Testament pattern than mine is? How do I evaluate them? Do I simply wave them off by saying, “They are not among ‘our’ assemblies.” Do I accept or reject them by whether their activities are reported in one of “our” magazines?

Then there is the matter of individual Christian workers “outside our circle.” How do we evaluate them? Do we ask, “Has he been commended by one of ‘the assemblies?” “Is he with us?” Or do we inquire if he is serving the Lord in accordance with the principles of the New Testament?

Certainly the easiest policy is to judge individuals or groups by whether or not they are “with us.” This does not require spiritual exercise or discernment. But it is a false and dangerous basis of judgment. It supplants the Word of God as our final authority. It assumes a priori that “we” are correct in our position and that everyone else should conform to us. It leads to inconsistency, embarrassment and confusion.

Christians must be taught to test everything by the Scriptures. This is our only authority. The question is not, “How do we do it in ‘our assemblies’?” but “What does the Bible teach about it?”

Our loyalty must be first, last and always to the Lord and to the principles of His Word. And we should never blindly assume that any group of believers has a monopoly on the truth, is adhering to the New Testament in its entirety, or is immune from drift and departure.

Every generation must guard against the danger of slipping into denominational, sectarian ways of thinking. Down through the centuries, there have been great movements of the Holy Spirit in which certain truths have been recovered out of the rubble of tradition, formalism and ritualism. The first generation, that is, those living at the time of these movements have been intelligent concerning the scriptural principles involved. But then the second and third generations have tended to follow the system routinely because their parents were in it, and because they themselves were brought up in it. There has been a decline of true conviction and an increasing ignorance of the biblical basis of the pattern followed.

Thus the history of most spiritual movements has been aptly described in the word series: man … movement … machine . . . monument. At the outset there is a man, anointed in a special way by the Holy Spirit. As others are led into the truth, a movement develops. But by the second or third generation, people are following a system with sectarian, machine-like precision. Eventually nothing is left but a lifeless, denominational monument.

If you were to ask a sampling of Christians, “Why do you meet in church fellowship where you do?” how many do you think could give a clear, scriptural answer? Not many! There is widespread ignorance as to the truth of the New Testament church, and therefore a general lack of conviction on the subject. How can we have strong convictions about something we do not know or understand?

In a healthy New Testament assembly, those who are in fellowship know why they are there. They are not sermon-tasters or followers of men, but Christians who are well grounded in the truth of the gospel and of the Church. They are prepared to judge everything by the Word. They are not unalterably committed to any particular group of assemblies. If trends develop which are unbiblical and dishonoring to the Lord, they will seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to the company of those who do meet in obedience to the Bible.

Let us examine some of the great truths concerning the assembly which are found in the New Testament and to which we should be loyal.

1. 1. UNITY OF THE BODY

      One of the most obvious truths is the unity of the body of Christ. There is only one body, one church, one assembly (Eph. 4:4).Because this is true, all believers are responsible to bear witness to it. As we gather together, we should give practical expression to it. Nothing that we do or say should deny it.

      Many Christians see quite clearly that sects and denominations are a denial of the truth of the one body (I Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3). Sects create the impression that Christ is divided, and thus misrepresent the truth of God’s Word. Many of us see this quite clearly and refuse such names as Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist or Episcopalian.

      But we do not always see that any name that separates us from other members of the body is divisive and unscriptural. Even if we take a biblical name like brethren, for example, the minute we qualify it or capitalize it, we transgress. It is as wrong for some believers to identify themselves as Plymouth Brethren, United Brethren, Christian Brethren, Evangelical Brethren, Open Brethren or Exclusive Brethren as it is for others to call themselves Presbyterians or Pentecostals.

      Brethren with a capital B implies that there are some believers who are not brethren, or that some are brethren in a distinctive way. We hear people ask, “Is he in the Brethren?” or they report sadly, “He left the Brethren.”

      The truth is, of course, that if he’s saved, he’s in the brethren, and he can’t leave the brethren since the believer is eternally secure.

      It is certainly right that we should gather to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, but the minute we speak of ourselves as “Christians gathered to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone,” meaning that we do and others don’t, we have become a sect.

      To speak of any particular group of Christians exclusively as “the Lord’s people” betrays a sectarian attitude. It puts us in the same class as those in Corinth who said, “I am of Christ”-meaning that they were of Christ to the exclusion of all others (I Cor. 1:12).

      Another way in which inconsistency appears is the habit of calling a particular gathering of Christians in a town “the assembly” in that town. Or speaking of states and cities where there are “no assemblies.” Actually this is not accurate language. The assembly in any given town is made up of all true believers there. Within that town there may be several gatherings of Christians. In addition there may be some true Christians who are not associated with a local fellowship for one reason or another; they may be under discipline, for instance. All go to make up the assembly in the town, though all may not meet together in one place.

      Someone will say, “Well, how can I distinguish my assembly from the other evangelical churches in Hometown?” The answer is, “Instead of calling it ‘the assembly’ in Hometown, refer to it as the assembly that meets in the Bible Chapel at 5th and Pine.” Then you have not denied the unity of the body.

      We must never forget that we are Christians, believers, brethren, disciples and saints-and so are all who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. To deny this by any form of sectarianism, denominationalism or exclusivism is to deny the truth of the Bible and to be guilty of carnality and pride.

   2. ALL BELIEVERS ARE MEMBERS

      A second great truth for which we should stand is that all true believers are members of the body of Christ and therefore members of one another (I Cor. 12:12-26). This being so, it is necessary for us to recognize all Christians as our brothers and sisters.It is not always easy to do this. Men have erected fences. People are more loyal to their own denomination than they are to the body of Christ. They do not recognize the unity of the Spirit.

      But the trouble is not all with other people. Even in our own hearts, there is often the desire to be distinctive, to think of ourselves as having a cover on church truth or some other truth. We often find it difficult to befriend those who do not see exactly as we do. Instead of rejoicing when others are led into a certain measure of divine truth, we are apt to magnify the ways in which they are still different from us. And too frequently we quarrel most bitterly with those whose church order is strikingly similar to our own.

      How then can we give practical expression to the truth that all genuine believers are members of the body of Christ?

      First of all, we should love them because they belong to Christ (I John 4:11). The fact that they may differ with us in various areas of doctrine or practice should not prevent our loving them.

      We should pray for them (I Sam. 12:23). This is a debt we owe to all men, especially those who are of the household of faith.

      Third, we should seek to share with them the precious truths which God has shown us from the Word (II Tim. 2:2).

      This does not mean that we should adopt a deliberate policy of sheep-stealing, that is, moving into other evangelical groups with the specific purpose of leading people out to “our own fellowship.” Nowhere in the Bible are we called to this divisive ministry. Rather, in our individual contact with others and as led by the Holy Spirit, we should minister Christ to them as the gathering Center of His people. We should “”teach everyone we can, all that we know about Him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ” (Col. 1:28, Phillips).

      Not only should we love other believers, and pray for them, and seek to edify them, but we should also learn from them (I Cor. 12:21). It is a mistake to think that we have all the truth and that we cannot benefit spiritually from those outside “our own fellowship.” Every member has something to contribute to the rest of the body. Any man-made barriers that hinder believers from helping other believers are contrary to the will of God.

      Also we should refrain from criticism, jealousy, gossiping, backbiting or judging (Luke 6:37). Each believer is a steward of the Lord. We are distinctly forbidden to judge others before the time, that is, before the Lord comes (I Cor. 4:5). Paul asks, ‘Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own Master he standeth or falleth” (Rom. 14:4). And when Peter became concerned about John’s service for the Lord, Jesus said, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me” (John 21:22).

      We should rejoice whenever Christ is preached, whether or not we agree with the methods and motives. Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will; the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds; but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice’ (Phil. 1:15-18).

      The fact that we thus recognize all true believers as members of the body does NOT mean that we will adopt their policies and practices. We are responsible to obey the Word of God as He has revealed it to us. We can love people without loving the system in which they are found and without becoming a part of it. As far as our own pathway is concerned, we must be uncompromisingly obedient to the Bible. As far as other believers are concerned, we should be patient and tolerant.

   3. CHRIST, THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH

      A third important truth for which we must stand is that Christ is the Head of the Church (Eph. 5:23; Col. 1: 18). This means that we must look to Him for direction and guidance in the affairs of the local assembly.We all realize that the truth of Christ’s headship is denied when a pope, for instance, claims to be head of the church on earth. But we must guard against the more subtle error of thinking that any of us has any right to manage the affairs of the assembly. It is so easy to give lip service to the Headship of Christ, and yet to maneuver, lobby and connive in a carnal way in order to get one’s own way. Instead of waiting upon Him in fasting and prayer, we apply successful business methods and the wisdom of this world. All this is a practical denial of the Headship of Christ. If Christ is Head, then everything must be done under His guidance and control.

   4. THE PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS

      Then there is a fourth truth—the truth that all true believers are priests. InI Peter 2:5-9, we learn that we are holy priests and royal priests.As holy priests we offer up spiritual sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ (v. 5). These sacrifices include:

      • the sacrifice of our bodies (Rom. 12:1,2).
      • the sacrifice of our praise (Heb. 13:15).
      • the sacrifice of our possessions (Heb. 13:16).

      As royal priests we show forth the excellencies of Him Who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2:9). This means that every believer is expected to witness for Christ, both by life and by the spoken word.

      As holy priests we go into the sanctuary to worship. As royal priests we go out- into the world to testify.

      The idea that worship and service are the functions of a special group known as priests or clergymen is foreign to the New Testament. All believers are priests and should be free to exercise their priestly functions.

   5. NO ONE-MAN MINISTRY

      There are some local churches that repudiate the clerical system, refusing to have what might be called a one-man ministry. And yet if you were to ask many of the Christians in those churches for a scriptural defense of their position, they would be hard put to give an answer. Why is it wrong to have a one-man ministry in the local assembly?The first reason is because it is not found in the New Testament. The assemblies in apostolic times consisted of saints, bishops and deacons (Phil. 1:1). The bishops, or elders, are always spoken of in the plural. Not one elder over a church, but several elders in each church. Bible historians agree that the clerical system arose in the second century; it was not found in the churches of the New Testament.

      Secondly, the clerical system generally ignores the purpose for which the gifts of evangelist, pastor and teacher were given to the church. The function of these gifts is to build up the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). In other words, Christian service is not the function of any one class but the responsibility of all believers. It is only as each one fulfills his function that the body will develop and mature. The function of the gifts listed inEph. 4:11is to build up the saints to the point where they are mature, functioning members of the body. Thus, these particular gifts are temporary aids, not permanent fixtures.

      When one man is responsible for all the teaching and preaching in a local church, there is always the danger that people will gather to him, not to the Lord. If a man is especially gifted, people are drawn to his preaching. They attend because he is there. If he leaves for any reason, then they are apt to follow him, or if this is not possible, they often drift elsewhere, looking for another gifted man.

      Christ should be the gathering Center of His people (Matt. 18:20). We should be drawn by His presence, not by a man. When believers see this and act upon it, the local assembly need not be shaken by the departure of any man. An assembly where Christians gather to Christ has strength, stability and solidarity.

      And, of course, there are potential dangers when all or most of the teaching in a local church is done by one man. People tend to accept his word as authoritative. If they are not studying the Scriptures for themselves, they are not in a good position to discern error.

      In addition, no one man is able to provide the diversity of ministry that is possible when the Holy Spirit has liberty to speak through several men. We must be concerned not only with ministry that is doctrinally accurate, but also with ministry that provides a balanced diet for the people of God. The scriptural injunction is, “Let the prophets speak two or three and let the others judge” (I Cor. 14:29).

      A one-man ministry too often stifles the development of gift in a local church. There is not the same opportunity for others to participate. Some ministers insist on confining most of the work to themselves; they resent anyone else’s intruding into their office. But even where this is not the case even where ministers would like to see others participating-the very nature of the clerical system discourages the so-called layman from developing his God-given gifts.

      When one man is salaried by the local congregation as preacher, there is often a subtle temptation to water down the message. It should not be so, but the fact is that by controlling a minister’s salary, the congregation often cuts itself off from receiving the full counsel of God.

      Now we recognize that there are many great men of God in the clerical system who preach the gospel faithfully, teach the Word, and seek to shepherd the sheep of Christ. And God is using them.

      We also recognize that there are many “one-man ministers” who do not have the clerical spirit. They have a sincere desire to help the saints in every possible way, to lead by example, and not to lord it over God’s heritage.

      And we also realize that it is possible for someone who is not a clergyman to have the clerical spirit. InIII John 9-11, for example, we read of Diotrephes who acted as a tyrant in a local assembly.

      But the fact remains that the clerical system is basically wrong and unscriptural. The world will never be evangelized in the way that God intended, and the church will never be built up according to the divine plan as long as the distinction between clergy and laity is maintained.

   6. THE PRESIDENCY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

      Another vital truth which each local assembly is obligated to maintain and practice is the presidency of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26). This means that the Holy Spirit is the Representative of Christ in the church on earth. He is the One Who should be allowed to lead the people of God in prayer, praise and worship. He should have liberty to speak through servants of His own choosing according to the spiritual needs of God’s people.InI Cor. 14:26, we have a picture of a meeting of the early church in which there was this freedom of the Spirit. “How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”

      When the Spirit is thus free to lead, there will be spontaneity in teaching, preaching, worship and intercession.

      Most of us realize that the ministry of the Holy Spirit has been greatly quenched by the introduction of ritual and liturgy. The use of printed prayers, of stereotyped messages for certain days of the “church calendar,” of a prescribed order of service that must be followed without deviation-these things fetter the Holy Spirit in the meetings of the local church.

      But we must guard against more subtle ways of quenching Him. For instance, we must guard against manmade rules in our worship meetings. In some places, there is an unwritten law that there must be no ministry before the breaking of bread. Or that the meeting must not go beyond a certain time. Or that in worshipping we must not dwell on our own sins or unworthiness. Or that we must sit or stand when praying or singing. All such rules quench the spirit of spontaneous worship and lead to formalism.

      We often make a man an offender for a word. Perhaps a young believer will express thanks to God for dying for him. Must he be rebuked for this? We all know that God, the Father did not die. And doubtless the young believer knows it too. But in the self-consciousness of taking part publicly, he is apt to express himself poorly. Should he be made ashamed of his first, faltering act of public worship? Is it not better to hear his sincere though faulty adoration than not to hear it at all?

      Generally speaking we believe that the Holy Spirit will guide the worship of His people along a certain theme. But suppose a brother gives out a hymn that seems to be quite unrelated to this theme. Must he be embarrassed for this? Is it not better to sing the hymn and pray that as he matures sufficiently to discern the theme in the meeting, he will do so without losing any of his warmth and affection for the Lord?

      Which reminds us of a certain preacher who was asked, “What would you do if some brother gave out a hymn that was obviously not in the Spirit?” He replied, “I’d sing it in the Spirit.”

      As we seek to give the Holy Spirit His proper place in the assembly, let us beware of rules that quench Him and that kill spontaneity and unaffected worship.

   7. EACH ASSEMBLY INDEPENDENTLY RESPONSIBLE TO CHRIST

      There is another principle in the Word of God that should guide us in connection with the assembly, namely that each assembly is independent and responsible only to Christ. There is no such thing in the New Testament as a denomination, a federation of churches, or a circle of fellowship. There is no headquarters on earth, exercising authority of any kind over local assemblies.The headquarters of the church is where the Head is—in heaven.

      Every local church should carefully avoid anything that might lead to centralized control on earth.

      This centralization is the evil that has hastened the spread of modernism. The liberals have seized control of the denominational headquarters and of the seminaries. They knew that if they could control the headquarters, then eventually they could control all the churches.

      The formation of a central group often comes from government pressure or from a desire to obtain certain benefits from the government. But then centralization makes it easy for totalitarian governments to suppress the church. If they capture a few denominational leaders, they can control the activities of the entire denomination.

      God’s will is that each assembly should be an independent unit, responsible directly to the Lord Jesus. This hinders the spread of error, and enables the church to go underground more easily in times of persecution.

   8. THE ROLE OF THE GIFTS IN THE CHURCH

      We have already touched briefly on the role of gifts in the Church. Actually every believer has some gift, some special function in the body of Christ. In addition there are the special service gifts of evangelist, pastor and teacher (Eph. 4:11). The latter gifts were given to help all the saints find their gift and to exercise it. They were given to build up the saints for the work of the ministry, and thus for the building up of the body of Christ. From this it is clear that:The work of the ministry is not for a special class of Christians but for all the people of God.

      The work of the special gifts of Ephesians 4 is to build up Christians to the point where they can carry on by themselves, then to move on. In other words, the saints should not become perpetually dependent on such gifts. On the contrary these gifts should work themselves out of a job in the shortest possible time, then move on to new areas of opportunity. Just as parents begin right away to teach children to take care of themselves, so should these gifts teach the babes in Christ.

      Now this raises a question: “How long should such a gift remain in a local assembly?” There is only one Possible answer to the question—as long as it takes to mature the saints to serve. Paul only stayed in Thessalonica “for three sabbath days” (Acts 17:2), yet left behind an indigenous assembly-self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating. As far as the record is concerned, the longest that he stayed in any one place was the three years that he spent in Ephesus (Acts 20:31). It is not exactly a question of how long a man stays in one place, but rather what his purpose is. What is he trying to do? Is he trying to equip the saints to carry on by themselves?

      In this regard, these gifts must guard against the natural tendency to nestle, to think of themselves as having a lifetime appointment in any one place. (This is as true of foreign missionaries as of workers in the homeland.) They must keep themselves mobile. And they must also guard against another subtle danger, that is the feeling that the saints couldn’t get along without them. When they are absent, the attendance drops; this makes them think that they must not leave. They are afraid that the whole assembly would go to pieces. It caters to pride to think that we are indispensable. And sometimes it wounds our pride to think that we are no longer needed in a particular place. Actually we should rejoice when that time arrives.

      While speaking of gifts, there is something else that should be mentioned. In the New Testament, these gifts were charismatic, not professional. By this we mean that these gifts were men who were sovereignly endowed by the Holy Spirit without regard to training or occupation. For instance, the Spirit would reach down and equip a fisherman to be an evangelist. Or He might take a shepherd to teach His Word. Or He might fit a carpenter to exercise a pastoral ministry among the saints.

      There is no suggestion in the New Testament that professional training can make a man a gift to the church. The idea that only men who have had formal schooling in the Word are qualified to minister is disgusting. Training can be helpful to a believer in getting a grasp of the Scriptures, but no amount of training can make a man an evangelist, a teacher or a pastor. And there is always the danger of professionalism. If the Scriptures are approached from a philosophical basis, then training can be a very deadening and dangerous thing.

   9. THE LOCAL CHURCH

      When is a local church a true New Testament Church? When most of the members are true believers? Even if only a minority are true believers? Wherever Christians are gathered in the Lord’s Name? What qualifies a group to be considered a local assembly?Actually the New Testament does not lay down hard and fast rules as to what an assembly is. It does state that where two or three are gathered in Christ’s Name, He is in the midst (Matt. 18:20). And the Scriptures assume that those who compose the assembly are Christians, although it is also recognized that unbelievers are sometimes taken into the number unawares (Acts 20:29, 30). Also the New Testament seems to assume the presence of elders and deacons in the normal assembly (Phil. 1:1). But beyond that there is no final way for us to say that certain Christian groups are New Testament churches and that others are not. We can be grateful that we are not the judges in these cases.

      If a group professes to be a Christian assembly, then it should manifest the truth of the church universal. It should be a miniature, a replica of the body of Christ. It should present a living portrayal of the church of the living God.

      Now the situation among local churches in the world today is this. Some local assemblies depict the universal church very badly. Some do it more accurately. None does it perfectly. What you have is a wide range of churches with all different degrees of likeness to the universal church.

      Some churches obviously have no right to be thought of as Christian assemblies. I am thinking of those liberal churches, for instance, that deny all the fundamental doctrines of the faith.

      But then we have a wide variety of other churches that do acknowledge Jesus Christ as only Lord and Savior. Some are more evangelical than others. Who can say where the line is that divides those that are N. T. churches from those that are not? We have to leave them with the Lord. Our responsibility is to build according to the pattern, that is, to give a true likeness of the church in our own local assembly.

      Certainly no assembly has any reason for pride. If we could see ourselves as the Lord sees us, we would probably shrivel up and die. Spiritual pride is itself a denial of the truth that we are seeking to uphold.

CONCLUSION

To what should we be loyal? Once again we emphasize that we should be loyal to the Scriptures, not to any church system or circle of fellowship. In a day of drift, we must constantly test everything by the Bible and act accordingly.And there will be a price to pay. It costs something to follow New Testament principles. There will be reproach from the world and opposition from other Christians. But our responsibility is clear. We must obey God and leave the consequences with Him.

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Marvelous Grace – William MacDonald

Marvelous Grace – from an audio message October 29, 2006 – Bill MacDonald

Romans Chapter 12:1-2. Jesus Christ Died For Us.

Oftentimes when we think of him we think of his humanity, don’t we? But the Lord Jesus came down from heaven and took upon himself, upon God, something He never had before, that was humanity.

It is astounding really, astounding, nothing like it in the history of the universe.

But what really is astounding is that God in a body of flesh went to the cross of Calvary and died. That man hanging on the cross bound by nails feet and hands was God. Amazing! In fact I think it is a thought beyond all thought. Probably the greatest thought that has ever entered the human mind. True.

I tell you we’re grappling with great truths when we come to the Word of God aren’t we?

He didn’t have to do it! He could have just brushed us off the table into Hell.

But in marvelous grace He decided to die for us anonymous nobodies, that’s what we were.

We deserved eternal death. You know, the Lord Jesus was the only person in the universe who was qualified to be our Saviour.

He had to be God, he had to be man, He had to be willing.

The marvelous thing is that the God-man was willing to go to the cross and pour out his blood his life blood for you and for me. Wonderful wonderful Jesus. He paid too high a price. To vanquish for us every foe.

Consider these quotes by some great Saints: “You’ll never appreciate Calvary, until it takes your breath away and becomes the most important thing in your life.” And “From the beginning of time until now, and on into eternity, Calvary is the only thing that ever happened.”

My friend, get yourself into that equation because He died for you, He died for me. The truth of what he did for us should leave us speechless, it strains the mind. Nothing could ever be as important as this.

Love so amazing so divine, demands our heart, our life, our all.

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